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Preserving traditions

Scio author is part of the movement to bring back the lost art of canning

By Jennifer Burns Levin

For The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Wednesday, May 12, 2010, page D1

“Occasionally,” says pickle guru Linda Ziedrich, “I’m asked why anyone in this modern world would still do home preserving.”

At her homestead near Scio, Ziedrich provides many delicious answers. One entire wall of her garage holds neatly organized boxes of her creations: cherry compote, brined cukes and pickled peppers nestle among boxes of jars containing summer’s harvest packed in vinegar or sweet fruit juices.

Each box and each jar also tells a particular story about enduring worldwide traditions of food preservation.

In North America, preservation has undergone a renaissance. In 2008 and 2009, canning supply and garden stores experienced significant increases in retail sales. The number of books published on home preservation has soared, and changing American tastes have been reflected in hip urban restaurants and cooking blogs, both of which strive to make meals with local, seasonal ingredients free from additives common in commercial preparations.

On a more local scale, Oregon State University Extension in Lane County has experienced booms in attendance for its Master Food Preserver courses and Master Gardener workshops, and neighborhood groups in Eugene, such as the Friendly Neighborhood Farmers, have made skills such as fermentation, vegetable gardening and outreach for restoring the Willamette Valley food shed a priority.

Author of two popular cookbooks on jams and pickling, Ziedrich serves as a model for the Johnny-come-latelys of home preservation and the “urban homesteading movement,” which has popularized boutique versions of old-fashioned rural homemaking skills.

Lauded by Christopher Kimball of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and the television program “America’s Test Kitchen” as having “transformed what might have been a lost art into something both necessary and delightful,” Ziedrich showcases both the art and science of preserving. And she does it all here in the Willamette Valley, growing most of the fruits and vegetables she preserves on her 37-acre farm northeast of Albany.

Ziedrich grew up in Santa Rosa, Calif., the daughter of parents who owned a hazelnut orchard. After receiving degrees from the University of California at Davis and at UC Berkeley in English and cultural anthropology, she worked outside of Boston in book editing for many years.

Ziedrich and her family moved to Scio, a town with a population of about 800, 16 years ago. As her husband converted farm housing on their rural parcel — surrounded by nursery crops, wheat and corn — Ziedrich raised three children, continued her editing career and worked on her first book on cold soups. In the ensuing years, she has grown everything from red currants to quinces to hot peppers.

Ziedrich in her garden is a marvelous force to behold. She points out a garlic patch. The latest crop hangs, braided in thick ropes, in her kitchen.

Under the cover of a small greenhouse, her eyes twinkle when she shows off her pepper seedlings — some international varieties with exotic names such as Moldavia and Fushimi, others merely labeled with descriptive terms such as hot and long and orange.

“I always save seed,” she says when asked about the varieties. “So I try to keep track of the qualities of each pepper or tomato.”

Unsurprisingly, the peppers and garlic appear in preserved form in her much-praised book on pickles, “The Joy of Pickling: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More From the Garden.” First published in 1999, a second edition was released last year with 25 new recipes, adding relishes, quick pickles and chutneys for her fans.

Ziedrich explains that she got her initial inspiration from her husband.

“My eldest child liked pickles, but I never grew cucumbers since I didn’t like them,” she says. “One day, my husband brought home some pickles from the store with all kinds of weird preservatives in the list of ingredients. And at that moment I thought, well, I gotta grow cucumbers.”

From her early cucumber experiments with books on pickling at her local public library, Ziedrich branched out with an international guide to pickling and a Master Food Preserver class to ensure her recipes would be safe.

Because of Ziedrich’s local focus and training, both her pickle and jam books are great resources for Willamette Valley preservers. “The Joy of Pickling” boasts chapters on fermented pickles, sweet pickles and freezer pickles; specialty chapters on meat, pickled fish and eggs, kraut and chutneys; and a pickle primer with many helpful charts, including a salt brine ratio chart.

The scope of her recipes is comprehensive. Eastern European and Indian pickles are represented, as well as Chinese and Japanese pickles in a special chapter dedicated to rice bran, miso and soy sauce pickles. And where else can you find a recipe for senfgurken, German pickles made from old yellowing cucumbers, or the most glorious spicy, plump, pickled prunes in the world?

Ziedrich’s latest book, “The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves: 200 Classic and Contemporary Recipes Showcasing the Fabulous Flavors of Fresh Fruits,” was published in 2009. It features traditional, no-pectin or low-pectin fruit spread recipes. Especially for the Oregonian, there are a dozen thoughtful blackberry preparations, from small-batch jam to blackberry-apple fruit leather, and recipes for Oregon grape jelly and strawberry preserves.

The jams, jellies and preserves are complemented by recipes for vinegars, juices, syrups and pastes.

But as useful as the traditional recipes — and a complete preservation primer — are for the new canner, Ziedrich’s jam book really shines with its unusual recipes: Cantaloupe. Medlar. Strawberry tree. Green tomato. Banana. All manner of fruits are addressed with the facility of an educator. The recipes in “The Joy of Jams,” like those in the pickle book, span the globe. And she’s looking for even more for the second edition.

“I want this book to be as valuable as possible to as many people as possible,” she notes in the book’s preface.

“If I’ve neglected fruits you know and love, or if I’ve left out your favorite ways of making them into sweet preserves, please feel free to write to me.”

Ziedrich also welcomes feedback on the four spring preservation recipes that follow.

The pickled snap peas are perhaps the easiest, since they can be stored in the refrigerator and need no special equipment.

The pickled asparagus are processed in a water bath canner, as are the two sweet spreads, and need two-piece lids and sterile canning jars.

Pickled Snap Peas

These lovely refrigerator pickles require no experience with canning. All you need is a quart jar and a bumper crop of peas. The pea pods should have their little stems broken off and pulled downward to de-string the pod. Large snow peas or a snap pea that grows well in Oregon are especially good for these pickles. As with all refrigerator pickles, take care to use nonreactive kitchen equipment: aluminum will react with the acidic vinegar and alter the quality of your pickles. Glass jars with plastic lids should be used for storing the pickles. You may buy plastic lids for canning jars at any store that carries preservation supplies.

1¼ cups white wine vinegar

1¼ cups water

1 tablespoon pickling salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pound snap peas, washed, stemmed and strung

4 medium garlic cloves, sliced

1 or 2 small, dried hot peppers, slit lengthwise

2 tarragon sprigs

In a nonreactive saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Let the liquid cool.

Pack the peas into a sterilized quart jar along with the garlic, hot pepper and tarragon. Pour the cooled liquid over the peas and close the jar with a nonreactive cap. Makes 1 quart.

Adapted from “The Joy of Pickling” by Linda Ziedrich.

Pickled Asparagus

Asparagus can be pickled either tips up or down, depending on your own taste. Some people like the tips down so the spears can be removed easily. For the perfect size, measure the height of your jar, then cut asparagus spears to a consistent length that is just a bit shorter than the jar.

5 large garlic cloves, sliced

15 whole allspice berries

30 whole black peppercorns

20 whole coriander seeds

5 small pieces of mace or nutmeg

½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)

About 3 pounds asparagus, trimmed to fit into jars

2½ cups white wine or cider vinegar

2½ cups water

2½ teaspoons pickling salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Divide the garlic, allspice, peppercorns, coriander, mace or nutmeg and hot pepper flakes (if you’re using them) among five 12-ounce jelly jars. Pack the asparagus vertically in the jars, tips down or up.

In a nonreactive saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.

Pour the hot liquid over the asparagus, leaving ½-inch headspace.

Close the jars with lids and rings.

Process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

Store the cooled jars in a cool, dry, dark place for at least 3 weeks before eating the asparagus.

After opening a jar, store it in the refrigerator.

Adapted from “The Joy of Pickling.”

Rhubarb-Ginger Preserves

Ziedrich suggests you use red rhubarb for the prettiest product, or completely green rhubarb for an unusual look (peel the red from the top of greenish red ‘Victoria’ rhubarb). In “The Joy of Jams,” she provides a recipe for making your own crystallized ginger, or you can use store-bought candied ginger.

2 pounds rhubarb stalks, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces

3 cups sugar

¼ cup water

½ cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger

In a preserving pan, toss together the rhubarb and sugar. Cover the pan and let it sit for 6 to 12 hours, until the sugar is mostly dissolved.

Add the water and crystallized ginger to the pan. Stir the contents over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Raise the heat to medium-high and boil the mixture, stirring only as necessary to prevent scalding, until the syrup has thickened and the rhubarb is partially translucent.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the preserves cool for 5 minutes. Stir them and ladle them into sterilized pint or half-pint mason jars. Add prepared lids and rings, and process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

Makes about 4 half-pints.

Adapted from “The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves” by Linda Ziedrich.

Rose Petal Preserves

For this recipe, Ziedrich says, your rose petals should be tender as well as fragrant and clean. Ziedrich uses wild roses, such as nootkas. Be careful not to use sprayed roses, or those treated with weed and feed fertilizers. You will need about 10 cups of fresh petals, so pick blossoms over two or three days and store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. When you pick the roses, shake the blossoms to repel insects, and snip the tough white bases off. Wash and dry in a salad spinner only if necessary. You may want to include some unscented red roses for color. The rose flavor marries well with almond or pistachio thumbprint cookies, and the preserves are delicious over yogurt and vanilla ice cream.

8 ounces (about 10 cups) tender, fragrant pink or red rose petals

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

¼ cup strained lemon juice (seeds and pulp reserved)

Combine the rose petals and water in a kettle. Heat the contents over very low heat, covered, for 30 minutes.

Strain off the liquid, pressing the mass of petals with a large spoon to extract all of the liquid. You should end up with about one cup of liquid and one packed cup of rose petals.

Put the liquid into a preserving pan with the sugar and lemon juice. Heat the contents over medium heat, stirring, until all of the sugar has dissolved.

Raise the heat to medium high. Put the lemon seeds and pulp into a spice bag. Stir the rose petals into the liquid in the pan, and add the spice bag. Boil the mixture rapidly until it is thick and the syrup is well incorporated with the mass of rose petals. Remove the pan from the heat.

Press the spice bag against the side of the pan, and remove the bag. Ladle the hot preserves into half-pint mason jars. Add lids and rings, and process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Makes about 4 half-pints.

Adapted from “The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves.”

Free-lance writer Jennifer Burns Levin is a Master Food Preserver and blogs about local food at Culinaria Eugenius (culinariaeugenius .wordpress.com).